Daily Devotional For Sunday, April 21, 2024

Good morning Southside. It is Sunday, the Lord’s Day. Really every day is the Lord’s Day. It is the day we typically focus on being in a worship service to praise God, learn truth from His Word and apply that truth to our daily lives, fellowship with other believers and take the Gospel out into the world. Part of what worship is for us as we focus on our relationship to Jesus Christ is make ourselves available to Him to change us more and more like Christ.

As I think about Jesus’ impact on others, and the people He changed in His day, many would have thought it was impossible for them to do a 180. Take for example, the 12 disciples, all of them were basically rough, foul-mouthed fishermen. Through 3 years with Jesus, in the end they were not just different men, but totally changed men. It would take the Resurrection for them to switch their life purpose and direction in life.

Think about the Apostle Peter. One day as he was fishing,  Jesus came walking by and said to him, “Follow Me and I’ll teach you how to be a fisher of men.” In Jesus’ day, new rabbis were nothing new teaching the Torah, and the Psalms, and the prophets. For 3 years Peter left everything — his job, his family, his business and etc. and followed Jesus. I wonder — since traveling rabbis were nothing new in Peter’s day, and probably he had been asked before, what made Jesus’ call so very different from the other rabbis’. Though at the time, Peter had no idea what Jesus was calling him to do but more importantly, Peter had no idea the person Jesus was calling Peter to be in Him.

Charismatic cult leaders is nothing new even in our day. If you are old enough, some of you will remember Charles Manson in San Francisco (Helter Skelter), David Koresh and the Branch Davidians in Waco, Jim Jones in Jonestown of The Peoples Temple, and Marshall Applewhite of Heaven’s Gate in San Francisco . Each of these charismatic leaders had their followers who went on to commit crimes such as either kill others for their leaders or commit mass suicide. In Jesus’ day, they had some radical rabbis too who were zealots. Zealots were a religious, militaristic and anti-Roman occupation group. 

We say, “You’re guilty by association” and “birds of a feather flock together” to imply that people can tell who we are by the people we associate with in life. You have to wonder what some thought when Jesus called a man to be His disciple called Simon the Zealot. ”Zealot” is a word that means “right-winger.” Zealots were Zionists and political activists. He is mentioned very little in the New Testament: see Matthew 10:2-4, Mark 3:16-19, and Luke 6:14-16 and Acts 1:1-13.  Since there are 9 other named Simons in the Bible, this Simon is always referred to as Simon the Zealot” to distinguish him from Simon Peter and the other Simons. 

As one of the original disciples, he would have been very close to Jesus. Over 3 years, just as Peter and the other disciples, he personally witnessed all the miracles Jesus did, heard all the teachings and sermons Jesus gave, and came to accept the divinity of Jesus in time. Both Matthew and Mark give Simon the title [Καναναῖος, Kananaios] which is from the Aramaic that means “zealous one.” 

If this Simon was a true radical zealot, hearing Jesus’ teachings about “turning the other cheek, forgiving and loving your enemies had to be a hard pill to swallow for him. We are not sure. It is possible that an organized Jewish group called Zealots did not exist during Jesus’ time. Why do I say that? A Jewish historian named Josephus, who gives one of the best histories of the Jews, says this in his works, that the Zealots did not exist until around 68 BC when they became an organized militarized anto-Roman group during the Roman-Judean War (Source: The Anchor-Bible Dictionary, “Zealots,” p. 1048). Though Josephus seems to suggest this, there are many New Testament scholars who disagree with Josephus due to other prior historical evidence. 

I tend to believe the Zealots did exist during Jesus’ time and you have to wonder what everyone thought about the type of group and movement Jesus was starting with a fanatical, religious, militaristic and anti-Roman disciple in his group. I tend to believe the Simon the Zealot was more than just zealous or highly motivated. When Jesus cleansed the Temple, His disciples recalled Psalm 69:9 to indicate Jesus’ attitude at the time: “For zeal for your house has consumed Me . . .” (ESV). 

My point is saying all of this is to stress that Jesus can take the most unlikely person to become a fully devoted disciple of Him. Look at Saul who became Paul. In our lifetime, we have seen people such as Alex Baldwin, Kirk Cameron, Gary Busey, Jeff Gordon, C.S. Lewis, Chuck Norris, Mr. T, Tyler Perry and Mark Walhberg all be very public with their conversion experiences to and because of Jesus Christ.

And sometimes the difference Jesus makes is experienced and seen by others. I don’t know if you know who Christopher Hitchens is. He is a devout atheist who wrote a book called, God Is Not Great: Why Religion Poisons Everything. While on a book tour to push his book one time, he encountered Marily Sewell, a Unitarian minister and they were caught on video in an interview discussing the validity of Jesus Christ. Below is part of that transcript:

“Sewell: The religion you cite in your book is generally the fundamentalist faith of various kinds. I'm a liberal Christian, and I don't take the stories from the Scripture literally. I don't believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make any distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?

Hitchens: I would say that if you don't believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you're really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.

Sewell wanted no part of that discussion so her next words are, "Let me go someplace else.” This little snippet demonstrates an important point about religious "God-talk." You can call yourself anything you like, but if you don't believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross for our sins and then rose from the dead, you are not "in any meaningful sense" a Christian. Talk about nailing it.

In one of the delicious ironies of our time, an outspoken atheist grasps the central tenet of Christianity better than many Christians do. What you believe about Jesus Christ really does make a difference” (Source: Dr. Ray Pritchard, "Christopher Hitchens Gets it Exactly Right," KeepBelieving.com (2-1-10).

Yes, it took the Resurrection for the disciples to come onboard and become the apostles and evangelists they did. But once they did, there were all in — no partial or half-in attitudes. I don’t believe that someone as BIG as God can come into your life and you remain the same. Peter didn’t, Saul/Paul didn’t, Simon the Zealot didn’t, C.S. Lewis didn’t. Kirk Cameron didn’t. 

Question is To Consider

1. Are you really any different today than you were the day you gave your life to Christ in terms of your commitment to Christ and your personal discipleship? If so, how? If not, why?
2. What is your level of zeal for Jesus Christ and His personalize purpose for your life?
3. Look at what you believe about Jesus Christ. What difference does it make in your life each and every day?
4. Are you willing to allow Jesus to change you—your dreams, aspirations, expectations, and the way you respond to life’s circumstances?
5. If you are different, what would Jesus Christ say proves you are? In other words, what is the evidence? If a prosecutor was building a case against you to prove you are more like Christ’s character today, what evidence would he/she present against you?

Scripture To Meditate On: 1 John 3:9, “Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God” (NLT).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, I want to live such a life that when people see me, they see You. I want people coming to Christ as they are impacted by Your Holy Spirit working through me. I do not want to excuse, or rationalize my sin.  I want to repent from it and help others do the same. Heavenly Father, grant me courage to say yes to Your invitations and choose the path of righteousness. Help me guard my heart so I might not be distracted or diminished in my pursuit of Your best for my life. May Jesus be consistently exalted through me. In His name, Amen!”

I love you Southside! — Pastor Kelly